Quarterly reports for companies in the index have been generally upbeat, says UBS Securities. Rate-sensitive sectors -- autos, housing, retailing and banking -- are the laggards.

WITH COMPANIES REPRESENTING HALF of the Standard & Poor's 500 index's market capitalization reporting, fourth-quarter 2005 bottom-up earnings per share for the index is $20.21 versus our $20.00 estimate. Despite 12-cent hit from General Motors, we estimate the final figure should range from $20.25 to $20.50, up 14%.